Collins must stop scapegoating and take responsibility

Judith Collins needs to substantiate her bizarre claim that men on cell phones are the cause of the highest Queen’s Birthday road toll in 27 years, says Labour’s Police spokesman Stuart Nash.

“Blaming men for talking on cell phones is simply ridiculous, especially coming from a Minister who doesn’t think speed limits reduce crashes.

“The Minister is scapegoating, pure and simple. She has to take responsibility for the road toll. It’s her $300m underfunding of Police and a promise of 100 fewer cops on the roads that have helped made us one of the only countries in the world to have a rising road toll.

“Her public statements on road safety and police are becoming increasingly incoherent. She doesn’t support ‘absolute restrictions on speed’ and thinks fewer police on the road is a good thing. Now she thinks men talking on their phones is the cause of the rising road toll.

“Judith Collins needs to stop her wholesale attacks on men and admit to the real cause of the rising road toll – fewer cops on the road caused by her funding cuts,” says Stuart Nash.